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PHILADELPHIA - America's most famous groundhog emerged from his burrow early yesterday and declared that winter will last another six weeks.
Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow shortly before 7:30am to the cheers of more than 30,000 people from as far away as Alaska and Texas, one of the largest crowds in the 122-year history of the event in the central Pennsylvania town of Punxsutawney.
The rodent was taken out of a tree stump on a hill called Gobbler's Knob, and delivered his prognostication to William Cooper, President of Punxsutawney's Inner Circle, who organizers say is the only person in the world who can speak "groundhog-ese."
According to the tradition that may have links with the European festival of Candlemas, if the groundhog sees his shadow, it will mean six more weeks of winter. If not, there will be an early spring.
Cooper read a scroll containing the groundhog's prediction. It said: "As I look around me, a bright sky I see, and a shadow beside me. Six more weeks of winter it will be."
Groundhog Day - popular non-science
Following are some facts about Groundhog Day:
* According to lore, if the groundhog emerges from his burrow on February 2 and sees his shadow, he will be frightened back into his hole, presaging another six weeks of winter. A cloudy day - and no shadow - means winter will end early.
* The source of the current tradition is unclear but may be based on the European tradition of Candlemas, brought to the United States by German immigrants.
* Since 1887, the groundhog has not seen his shadow only 14 times, compared to 96 times when he saw his shadow. There were no records in nine of the early years.
* "Woodchuck" and "groundhog" are names for the same rodent, the Marmota monax. Related to the squirrel, they eat mainly green plants like dandelion, clover and grasses. They grow to weigh roughly five to nine pounds (2 to 4 kg) in the wild, but can grow much bigger in areas with fewer natural predators.
* Like many animals, groundhogs hibernate during the winter. They often emerge from their underground burrows in early February, when Groundhog Day is marked.
* Punxsutawney Phil weighs 9 kg and is 22 inches long. Although groundhogs live for six to eight years, legend has it that Phil, who is named after King Philip, has been making predictions for 121 years thanks to a magic elixir that he drinks every summer to get seven more years of life.
* The hype of marking Groundhog Day formed the basis of the 1993 movie of the same name starring comedian Bill Murray.
Sources: Cornell University, Environment Canada, IMDB, www.groundhog.org.
- REUTERS
